Pape Matar Sarr suffered an injury in Senegal's clash with Brazil on Saturday
Senegal manager Pape Thiaw says Pape Matar Sarr's injury sustained against Brazil isn't serious, giving Tottenham a big boost ahead of next week's North London Derby with Arsenal.
Sarr started Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium but was forced off in the second half after going down under a challenge. The Spurs midfielder was flanked my medical staff and appeared in discomfort as he left the pitch.
The blow will have been a big concern for Thomas Frank, who already has 12 first-team stars sidelined. Thiaw, however, tempered fears that the midfielder had suffered anything serious. “He got hit and then he didn’t feel well, so as a precaution he preferred to come off, but I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
Arsenal also suffered a major injury scare as defender Gabriel limped out of Brazil’s friendly win. Gabriel, 27, went down just before the hour mark on his home ground and received treatment to his right thigh before being substituted by manager Carlo Ancelotti.
When Ancelotti was asked how bad the injury was and whether he could temper fears of Arsenal supporters fearing the worst, he couldn’t.
“Bad? I don’t know, he had a problem with his adductor, the medical staff have to check tomorrow,” said Ancelotti. “We are really sorry for this, really disappointed. When players have an injury, I hope they can recover well and soon.”
Gabriel’s absence would be a major blow for the leaders after a fine start to the season based on a firm defence that has conceded just five goals in 11 Premier League games.
He had started the game well, making some key tackles and interceptions before going down in the Senegalese box after seemingly over-stretching in an action.
Gabriel missed the end of last season with a hamstring problem, which cost him inclusion in the run-in for the UEFA Champions League.
Should Gabriel miss the match, it will be a big boost for Frank. The manager has enjoyed an impressive start to his reign in north London - but he's still searching for the right balance in Spurs' attack.
Speaking after last weekend's 2-2 draw with Manchester United, Frank said: “We are searching to find the right balance up front and I think when we look at the game back, I think there was positive bits going forward.
“We constantly work on the relationship and try to improve it with the players and try to find what is exactly the right blend, but I think there were small steps in the right direction.
(Against United) we wanted two strikers, Kolo Muani and Richarlison, for the crosses, which we thought was an area where we potentially could hurt United.
“I think it worked perfectly with the first one (by Brennan Johnson), where Richarlison got a big chance, so that could have been an unbelievable, fantastic game plan from us. So that was part of it and we need different personalities and types for different games.”